F1 Starting Grid 2023 Qatar Grand Prix
Event: Qatar F1 Grand Prix
Track: Losail International Circuit
Warm-up lap starts at: 20:00 Local | 19:00 CET | 18:00 UK | 10:00 LA | 02:00 Tokyo
Max Verstappen scored his 30th pole position and showed the Red Bull RB19 supremacy on the twisty high speed track by going flat out through turn 7. Don't forget this is the start grid for the Grand Prix driven on Sunday.
The track limits rule was notorious and both McLaren drivers saw their fastest laps deleted after the qualifying session had ended. Norris even lost his 2nd place and got dropped to P10. His teammate Piastri who became third after his teammate got dropped heard the new while being interviewed on F1 TV.
Verstappen won't have a challenge on both Mercedes drives behind him. The only thing he has to focus on is a good start, because overtaking on the Lusail circuit isn't very easy. The battle for second will be an interesting one to watch and will go between Russell, Hamilton, Alonso, Leclerc and Piastri. Whether or not Norris will join the fight will probably all depend on the first lap.
F1 Starting Grid 2023 Qatar GP
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Lap Time | Pole gap |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:23,778 | |
| 2 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:24,219 | +0,441s |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:24,305 | +0,527s |
| 4 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:24,369 | +0,591s |
| 5 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:24,424 | +0,646s |
| 6 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:24,540 | +0,762s |
| 7 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:24,553 | +0,775s |
| 8 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:24,763 | +0,985s |
| 9 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 1:25,058 | +1,280s |
| 10 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | no time | - |
| 11 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1:25,301 | +1,523s |
| 12 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:25,328 | +1,550s |
| 13 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull | 1:25,462 | +1,684s |
| 14 | 23 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1:25,707 | +1,929s |
| 15 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas | 1:25,783 | +2,005s |
| 16 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 1:26,210 | +2,432s |
| 17 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:26,345 | +2,567s |
| 18 | 40 | Liam Lawson | AlphaTauri | 1:26,635 | +2,857s |
| 19 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:27,046 | +3,268s |
| 20 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 1:27,432 | +3,654s |
✅ Don't forget to check out our 2023 Qatar Formula 1 Grand Prix Preview.
